This invention is related to waterwheels wherein water passing through the lower portion of a vertical positioned waterwheel rotates same. It is also related to the control of runoff and water flow in a watershed area.
In general prior art waterwheels and water driven turbines are low eficiency prime movers because they are structured such that a substantial portion of the perimeter of the wheel is enclosed in the water and only a small portion of it is subjected to forces from the moving water stream therefore considerable drag is incurred by the major portion of the wheel. In these prior art waterwheels and turbines generally a large head of water is needed to obtain any substantial power output from the device and in such constructions a large head loss is usually occurred through the associated structure necessary to get the water to the blades or paddles of the turbine or waterwheel. Almost without exception waterwheels are operated with water passing onto an upper portion of the wheel and being carried by it to a lower elevation on which requires special channeling and water diversion necessary to get the water to such an elevation and in proper position to fall on the wheel. Obviously these constructions require sizing of the wheel and proportions to the available head and topical location which dictate the size of the waterwheel.
In the current practice water control in a watershed area is accomplished by arranging the water movement such that it passes through a plurality of channels, streams, rivers and the like so the water is moved off of the land at a reasonably rapid rate. This method of water control in watershed area simply provides for rapid removal of the water from the watershed area to move it down stream and eventually to the ocean. This method control has inherent disadvantages in that it causes great amount of soil erosion as well as providing for dangerous conditions flood-wise and times of high rain fall or during spring thaws. An additional disadvantage of this present method of water control is that it does not provide for retention of water onto the land which in turn decreases the amount of water available for replenishing the under ground water supply and maintaining water content in the land.